Cardinal Pell says reforms will be significant

He says the financial reforms will be significant and will make better use of the resources to help the poor and disadvantaged.

The new ministry, formally a Secretariat for the Economy, will be governed by a 15-member council of eight clergymen from different parts of the world and seven lay international financial sector experts.

Pope Francis will also nominate a general auditor with broader powers to oversee all Vatican departments.

Last April, Cardinal Pell was appointed as one of eight cardinals to advise the Pope on how to reform the Catholic Church.

His spokeswoman says the new job will not prevent him from giving evidence at the hearing into the case of a former altar boy who took action against the church in 2006.

Fischer says appointment is 'bold and wise' move

John Cleary, who presents the Sunday Nights program on ABC Local Radio, says there are two possible frontrunners to replace Cardinal Pell in Sydney.

"The Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, hasn't been in the job very long but he's got a long history of being associated with the Vatican and Rome," he said.

"The other contender would be Anthony Fisher, the Bishop of Paramatta. [He's] been in the job four or five years and is something of a protégé of George Pell."

Australia's former ambassador to the Vatican, Tim Fischer, says Cardinal Pell is well-known for being good with finances.

"It's a bold and wise move by Pope Francis in announcing the appointment of Cardinal Pell to be a kind of budget supremo - long overdue, long needed," he said.

"It means once and for all getting on top of all the finances of the Vatican."